After twenty-three years of relentless speculation, singer/songwriter Carly Simon has finally confirmed that one of the “so vain” subjects of her infamous song You’re So Vain, is actor Warren Beatty. She told PEOPLE, “I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren.”
Warren Beatty, this (officially) for you:
You had me several years ago, when I was still quite naive;
Well you said that we made such a pretty pair, and that you would never leave;
But you gave away the things you loved, and one of them was me;
And while Beatty is now 78, he started out in Hollywood as a young, spunky, heart-throb who was incredibly good looking and highly likely to be “so vain”.
Simon and Beatty were briefly in a relationship in the early seventies.
Beatty became an instant star in 1961 after starring opposite Natalie Wood in Splendour in the Grass followed by a string of hits including Bonnie & Clyde, Dick Tracey and Bugsy.
Beatty married Bugsy co-star Annette Bening in 1992 and they have four children together, however before settling down he dated an extraordinary amount of high-profile women including Susan Strasberg, Madonna, Cher, Michelle Phillips, Natalie Wood, Lana Wood, Christine Kaufmann, Diane Keaton, Julie Christie, Joan Collins, Leslie Caron, Isabelle Adjani, Mary Tyler Moore, Goldie Hawn, Kate Jackson, Britt Ekland, Gilda Radner, Diane Sawyer, Carly Simon, Annette Stroyberg, Linda McCartney, Jacqueline Onassis, Carol Alt, Joni Mitchell, Maria Callas, Barbara Harris, Claudia Cardinale, Bridgitte Bardot, Justine Bateman, Janice Dickinson, Elle McPherson, Shirley Bassey and Stephaine Seymour.
He is the brother of acclaimed actress Shirley MacLaine, which along with the fact that Annette Benning is his life partner, are two of his most redeeming features..
Carly Simon performs her iconic hit. Article continues after the video.
But Beatty can't claim the credit for being the inspiration for the entire song. Simon, 70, says the song is about three men in total and she is still refusing to reveal the identities of the remaining two mysterious "vain" men. She has previously been linked to Mick Jagger, Kris Kristofferson, Jack Nicholson, David Bowie and Cat Stevens. So either of them could be her anti-muse for the song.
Simon told PEOPLE that Beatty thinks the whole song is about him. "Warren thinks the whole thing is about him," she said. When asked if she'll reveal the identities of the remaining two subjects, Simon said, "I don't think so, at least until they know it's about them."
We're going out on a limb and suggest Mick Jagger and Jack Nicholson are the other two. In the past the singer has dropped hints. For example she once said the person's name contained the letters "a", "e" and "r". She even went as far as to exclude Mick Jagger who sings backup vocals on the song, but we're not entirely convinced...
When the song was first released Simon only ever said that the song was about men in general and not one specific man. She finds the endless speculation to be "crazy", saying, "Why do they want to know? It's so crazy!"
Carly Simon's memoir Boys In Trees is out in Australia on December 3. Here's hoping she revealed the final two names in the publication. We are pre-downloading our copies in 3...2...
Simon performed the song in concert with Taylor Swift in 2013, however one of our favourite renditions will always be from the movie How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Nothing is more healing at the end of a relationship than singing this song (badly).